ND filter and exposure

[davolt13]

Maybe I'm just taking the wrong approach, but when I'm shooting outside and it's very bright I use the built-in ND filter to bring down the exposure. It has seemed like a decent solution in the past, but now in comparing some shoots, it seems to flatten the colors a bit. If I don't use it, the exposure is very bright. I guess the other solution is to adjust the shutter.

Is using the ND filter a shortcut no-no that people stay away from? I tend to not play with the shutter controls and prefer to adjust exposure based on aperture.

Any advice?

[Erik Olson]

Davolt13,

A proper ND should be completely color neutral. It might be that you are under or over exposing your shots somewhat with the ND in place. Try to take a balanced auto-exposure using a mid-tone somewhere within the keylit portion of your frame and then dial it in from there based on zebras.

Depending on where you like your zebras (e.g., 80% versus 100% or more or less) you will see whites, lower-value greys and highlights start to crawl more as you begin to creep into overexposure again.

It is okay to have hightlights blow out - just keep your ratios within three or four stops for safe exposures.

e